A Babysitter for Hire
by MeronS
Summary: Mob and Ritsu's parents are about to leave for a small vacation over the weekend and are in desperate need of a babysitter for their little boys. Good thing that they happen to come across an ad in the newspaper for Reigen Arataka, a marketing student ready to take any job available.


The Kageyama parents were dead tired. They had two young children to take care of. Not that they didn't love their two little boys, they just didn't get much rest with them demanding their constant attention. Work had also been tough lately, adding to the parents' fatigue.

"Take the vacation", Shigeo 'Mob' Kageyama, age 5 told his parents at the dining table one morning.

"But Shigeo dear, we can't get any babysitter to look after you", the mother told him as she fed some fried egg and rice to Ritsu, Shigeo's younger brother by a year.

The parents had planned a little vacation for the two of them for the upcoming weekend. But they had now ran into some trouble, they had failed to get a babysitter for the boys. Everything was already paid for, but the parents were going to stay home if the situation didn't change soon.

"The daycares are all full too", the father sighed, wiping Mob's mouth with a napkin.

"Vacation!" Ritsu screamed, "Vacation!"

Both the parents looked at each other before smiling fondly. Their children really were something else, thinking of their parents before themselves.

"Then how about we look at ads in the paper?" the mother suggested as she took out the morning's paper. There were always ads at the end. They had everything from open jobs and items on sale to just people offering their help for some money.

"Good idea", the father nodded, "There might be someone to help us."

The four looked over the ads before coming across an ad. Well, the parents read though them. The kids only looked at the colorful pictures and fonts. They couldn't read that well yet. They were leaning fast though.

It read, 'Taking any kind of job! Available 24/7! Reigen Arataka, call the number…'

Ritsu stuck his sticky finger to the paper, "This!"

"This one?" the father read the ad, "Sound suspicious to me."

"Let's call him!" the mother argued, "He is our last resort!"

Mob had already fetched the house phone for his mother.

"Reigen Arataka speaking", Reigen picked up the phone. He had just been cooking instant noodles for breakfast before getting ready for classes he would have later in the afternoon. He was studying marketing at 19 years old and lived alone. Instant noodles were his main source of calories and nutrition.

"Hello, this is the Kageyamas. We read your ad in the paper", the mother began, "Are you available this weekend?"

"Of course!" Reigen straightened up on his seat. The homework would've been boring anyways. He could always do those later. The teacher probably wasn't going to collect them, so he wouldn't even notice if Reigen had left them undone again.

"Great! You see, we have two little boys without a nanny for the two or three days and we're going to a small vacation, me and my husband. We have already bought the tickets too."

"No worries! I'll take care of your little boys for you! Just tell me the address and I'll be there in the afternoon after school!"

"Thank you so much!" the mother told him their house address. So the man was still in school? Interesting, "We would've never thought that this would happen. You really are a lifesaver!"

"Save your words for later!" Reigen told the woman as he poured the now done noodles onto a plate, "I'll be there soon."

This would be a first for Reigen. He had never looked after kids before. Maybe this was the career he would aim for, who knows. He had to try first.

"Thank you."

"He's coming here right now?" the husband asked as the phone was put down.

"No. He said that he would come after school. Maybe in four hours or so."

"Well, that's quick", the husband sighed in relief.

The doorbell rang a couple of times. The boys ran to open the door, welcoming their guest in.

"Hello boys!" Reigen laughed as the boys hid behind their parents' legs. Their bravery was gone rather quick after the door was opened and the unfamiliar man was inside.

Maybe he looked weird to them, with his dirty blond hair and grey suit. He didn't look Japanese, he admitted that, but he could guarantee that it was just what he was. His hair wasn't bleached either. It was his natural color.

"Welcome. So glad you could come", the father shook hands with the young man.

"It's so problem", Reigen smiled as he was lead to the living room and guided to sit on the sofa. He was then offered a cup of tea and come crackers.

"So, what do you do for living?" the mother asked. The parents wanted to know more about their new babysitter before entrusting him with their precious babies. They were a bit doubtful, but it was just to be expected from two loving parents.

"I'm still studying", Reigen admitted, "I'm working to earn money. I need to get food onto the table somehow." He did everything from cutting grass to carrying other people's groceries actually. Anything to earn him the experience and money to open up his own business in the future. That was a dream of his, an own business he could run just as he pleased. He still hadn't decided what type of business he was going for exactly, but he'd come up with something with time. He still had years in school ahead of him, after all.

"I know how you feel", the father nodded. The economy wasn't that good at the moment, even the students had to work to stay alive now. He had actually almost been fired from his job just the last week too. They were getting rid of some of their workers in order to save some money and apparently he had been on the list of possible people to get rid of. Good thing that he had managed to prove himself useful the last minute and got to keep the job.

"It must be tough", the mother agreed. She quite liked hardworking men like young Mr. Reigen here.

Reigen nodded as he took a sip out of his tea, "But enough of me, tell me about the two little guys."

"Ah, of course! This here is Shigeo. He is five. The other one is Ritsu. He is a year younger than Shigeo, only four."

Mob build up the courage and gave Reigen a small wave before hiding back behind his mother's legs. Ritsu just glared at the stranger, making sure that the man knew he wasn't welcome here.

"Such nice little boys", Reigen smiled, ignoring Ritsu's behavior in favor of asking more questions, "What do they like? Dislike?"

"They usually eat all the food we give them", the mother explained as she pet the boys' raven hair, "They like to play together and absolutely love to explore."

Mob yawned, clinging to Ritsu to stay up.

"And they must have stayed up and not gone down to take their nap I guess", Reigen smiled as he watched both of the boys sway on their feet.

"Yes, they were so excited to meet you", the father told him as he took the boys upstairs, "They absolutely refused to go to bed before they had at least seen you."

The trio continued talking about the situation on hand after the two boys had been put to bed for the night.

"So you're going to leave early tomorrow morning?" Reigen asked.

"Yes, our train leaves quite early. It was the only cheap one they had available", the father explained, "We also wanted the boys to be asleep when we'd leave. Although they were the ones who wanted us to leave and have a vacation, they would be sure to cling to us the minute we are about to leave through the door. And we wouldn't be able to leave with something like that."

The mother nodded. The boys had perfected their puppy dog eyes throughout the years and were now irresistible. She'd need to warn Reigen or he'd give the two anything they wanted.

"And you're going to be away for the weekend, returning by Sunday evening?" Reigen added as he checked his calendar, putting the dates up. He wanted to look professional.

"Yes. We first though about coming back during the night between Sunday and Monday but we just couldn't be apart from our little babies for that long."

Reigen nodded, "Understood. Just leave it all to me."

"Thank you so much! We were at a loss what to do before you arrived. All of the daycares were either closed for the weekend or full and no nanny wants to take care of the boys anymore. Guess the bush radio here works pretty well."

"Why wouldn't they? The boys seem like angels to me", Reigen asked. He was getting interested. Nannies could normally handle any child possible. Let it be crying or hyperactivity they'd have to deal with.

"Well, it's about Shigeo, you see. He is a bit special", the mother mumbled as she eyed her husband for support.

"They always tell us how creeped they are of him. He has quite a bland face we admit, but that's no reason to be afraid of him", the father told him, "They also tell us how weird thing tend to happen when Shigeo is around. Like spoons and other cutlery bending on their own."

"They say our boy is cursed!" the mother cried out.

"Come on dear, of course little Shigeo is not cursed. There's no way", the father tried to comfort his wife, apologizing their behavior to Reigen, who just told the two to take all the time they needed.

"But he does bend spoons!" the mother cried.

"It's just a phase", Reigen told the two, "Believe me. I've taken care of many kids in the past. I've seen many bent spoons in my years of work."

Of course that was a lie. He had never looked after kids before and most definitely never seen spoons being bent either.

"Really?" the mother asked him.

"Of course!" Reigen nodded.

"Thank goodness!" she hugged her husband, "Our son isn't cursed after all."

The man nodded his thank you to Reigen, who only nodded back.

"We should show you your room", the mother finally stood up, "You can put your stuff there."

"Thank you", Reigen smiled as he was guided to the family's small guest bedroom. It was nothing fancy but had everything Reigen needed. The bed seemed comfy too. No complains.

"We'll need to finish some packing before bed", the father told Reigen as they left him in the room, "You can go to sleep for tonight or do whatever."

"Alright", Reigen nodded as he decided to unpack the little stuff he had with him for the weekend.

"Um, mister? Are you awake?" there was a small voice coming from the hallway just outside Reigen's door.

Reigen jumped up. He had been so focused in the book he had been reading that he hadn't heard the small footsteps coming to his door.

"Yes? Who is it?" Reigen opened the door.

Out stood the older of the Kageyama brothers, Shigeo. He was clenching a plush toy to his chest as he stood in the dark hallway. He had a small nightlight with him to guide him.

"Hello, what is it? Couldn't sleep?" Reigen crouched down to the boy's eye level.

"Dimple wanted to say hi", Mob mumbled as he showed Reigen the plush toy he had been holding. It was a green blob. That was all Reigen could say about it. It didn't look like any animal he knew. It looked like a deformed something with huge red cheeks and lips. It was obviously handmade and very well-loved by the little boy.

"It's nice to meet you, Dimple", Reigen took hold and shook what he thought was a limb.

Mob watched the awkward interaction between the man and the plush toy with a small smile on his lips. The other nannies hadn't agreed to greet Dimple before.

"Are you two going back to bed now?" Reigen asked as he watched Mob yawn. His hair was all over the place. It was quite cute actually.

"Hm", Mob nodded, "Ritsu will be scared if I don't come back."

"Is your little brother awake too?"

Mob nodded. The brother had woken up in the middle of the early night. Mob had taken his little brother to the bathroom and now they couldn't fall back to sleep.

"Mom and dad need to leave early so we don't want to wake them up", Mob explained, "C-Could you read us a bedtime story?"

"Of course!" Reigen smiled as he picked Mob up and made his way to the brothers' bedroom with the help from the light that Mob was still carrying. Dimple stared at Reigen with its pair of black button eyes, making the man feel a bit uncomfortable. The thing was ugly. Who would ever let their child have something like that?

Ritsu was sitting on his bed, wrapped in a blanket. He was waiting for his big brother to return. After five minutes, he would go and look for him. He eyed to clock again. Two minutes. He hoped that Shigeo hadn't gotten eaten by the monsters. No, he had his nightlight and Dimple with him. He would be alright.

"Ritsu!" Mob smiled as he and Reigen entered the room.

"Brother!" Ritsu jumped to hug his big brother, "I thought you got eaten!"

"Eaten?" Reigen smiled. Ah, kids.

"Dimple protected me", Mob reassured Ritsu as he guided him to the brothers' bookshelf, "We went to get Mr. Nanny. He promised to read us a bedtime story."

Ritsu glared at the man, looking rather doubtful. Reigen just smiled, waiting for the boys to pick out a book for him. He wouldn't lose to some kid staring at him. He also made sure to tell Mob to simply call him Reigen. There was no reason for formalities.

The two picked out a book and returned to Reigen's side, who was sitting on the floor by one of the brothers' beds.

"What are you two up to now?" Reigen asked the two as they went to move their beds. He had been ready to begin reading already but no, the two monkeys were up to something else.

"We're connecting the beds", Ritsu explained as he pushed his bed to Mob's.

When the two beds were connected, the two jumped onto them and snuggled together under the blankets.

"You can come on too", Mob mumbled, patting an empty spot next to him on the mattress. There was plenty of space. The little boys were very small compared to the size of the beds.

"Alright, you ready to begin now?" Reigen asked the boys as he was comfortably lying next to Mob who had even shared some of his blanket with him. Dimple sat on Mob's arms as the boy rested his chin on the toy.

Both boys nodded eagerly and Reigen began the story.

Reigen made sure to give every character a different voice and got really into the reading. He almost jumped out of bed a couple of times to play out an especially exciting scene.

The brothers liked Reigen's style and listened very intently. Their eyes were sparkling as Reigen told them how he beat a dragon with his two bare hands. Yes, the story had transformed into something totally else midway to the book. Reigen had made himself and the boys the heroes of the story, following the boys' expressions to change the story accordingly. Currently Reigen was a prince trapped in a castle by evil Dimple and Mob and Ritsu, a magician and a knight, were on their way to save the man.

"-and then little Mob understood that Dimple wasn't a bad guy after all. He just wanted friends", Reigen was getting ready to end the story as the boys were already nodding off.

"What about the prince?" Ritsu yawned as he leaned to his big brother, who was half asleep himself.

"Reigen forgave Dimple, telling him that he could become his friend too", Reigen told, eyeing the deformed plush toy seemingly staring at him from under Mob's chin, "Reigen then invited all three to his kingdom. He put Ritsu in charge of all his knights and Mob became the kingdom's mage, helping everyone. Dimple became their mascot. Reigen was crowned the king and all lived happily ever after."

Reigen finished the story with a loud yawn. The two boys were asleep, both snuggled to his side.

Reigen made sure to cover them both with a blanket before he carefully slid out of the bed. Mob's small hand was actually grabbing to his shirt but Reigen managed to carefully free himself from the small boy's grasp.

"Good night", he smiled before closing the door behind him as he moved to sleep in his own room. He made sure to leave the nightlight on so that the boys wouldn't be surrounded by complete darkness. They seemed afraid of it after all, even going as far as to talk about monsters eating them. Reigen would have to talk to them about that. The two were old enough to realize that there were no such things and no reason to be afraid.

Reigen met the parents on his way to the room. They were carrying their bags downstairs, so that they could just get them and leave in the morning.

"Hi, were the boys asleep?" the mother asked. She had seen the man exit the boys' room.

"Yes, now. I read them a bedtime story", Reigen smiled as he helped the two carry the heavy bags.

"You did? Thank you so much", the father thanked him, "They love their books."

"They really do", Reigen nodded, "You usually read them a story before bed?"

"Of course!" the mother said, "They declined the offer today. Told us to get to packing."

"Such little adults", Reigen laughed.

Both of the parents nodded in agreement. Their sons could be mature for their age if they wanted to, yet they still preferred a good story before bedtime and were afraid of the dark.

The parents then told Reigen to return to bed and get some sleep. He'd have to get up early to make the boys breakfast. The parents had told him that the two were early risers, so Reigen did just as told. He himself wasn't. He preferred to sleep in late. This might get tough.

Reigen woke to the buzzing of his phone's alarm. He slammed it shut, rolling out of bed and right onto the floor. His bed back home was bigger, so this one ended too early and Reigen fell. Good thing that the loud noise and cursing didn't wake the two sleeping boys up.

The young man then continued his way to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth. The half-asleep state he was in made it hard to navigate the unfamiliar house. He had actually had to tell himself that he wasn't home when he had been confused just having woken up. It was almost funny how he couldn't tell apart a small student apartment and a fairly spacious family home.

The next obstacle on Reigen's path was making the actual breakfast. The kitchen looked like your basic kitchen, but the equipment was much more modern from the ones Reigen was used to. There was actually an induction stove and a microwave that looked more like a spaceship than every student's best friend.

"It can't be that hard", Reigen huffed as he placed a pan onto one of the burners. He managed to turn the stove on and began cooking. He'd make something very basic. Bacon and eggs with some toast and orange juice. No kid could hate something like that. But just in case, Reigen took out two cups of pudding for the boys to eat afterwards.

The trio would need to go grocery shopping. The content of the fridge wouldn't last them for long. The parents actually texted him just as he was thinking of what they boys would like to eat. The text message read that they were sorry about the state the fridge was in and hoped that Reigen would go and take the boys shopping with him. They left him a wallet on the kitchen table to pay the groceries with, which Reigen checked. It was quite fat as well, Reigen noted.

"Good morning", Mob mumbled as the two brothers came to the kitchen, rubbing sleep out of their eyes.

"Morning!" Reigen sang, offering the two their plates of food as they sat down by the table, "Did you brush your teeth?"

"Hm", Ritsu nodded, taking a huge bite out of his toast topped with some peanut butter.

"What are you going to do today?" Reigen continued, pouring Mob a glass of milk, "We must go shopping for food today, or we'll have no lunch to eat."

"Can we go to the park?" Mob asked as he eyed the plate of food in front of him. There was way too much food for him to eat on his own. He pierced an innocent cherry tomato with his fork before putting it in his mouth. It was sweet and tasty.

Reigen nodded, of course.

"Can we watch the morning cartoons?" Ritsu asked next, already half way through his toast, "Can we?"

"Hmm. I don't know", Reigen acted as if he was thinking about it before suggesting, "Maybe if you eat your plates empty."

Ritsu nodded, shoveling more food down.

Mob nodded too, looking quite unsure. He looked at Dimple for help, but the toy seemed keen on eating his own portion rather than to help Mob with his. Mob had given Dimple a plastic plate on which he had placed three building blocks. Mob told Reigen that they were buns and that Dimple liked them.

"I'm done! Thanks for the food!" Ritsu stood from the table and ran to the TV in the living room. He had waited for Mob about a minute but when he noticed that his bog brother was taking his sweet time with the breakfast, he gave up and decided to go ahead by himself. He was sure that Mob wouldn't get mad. He hardly ever did.

Reigen soon noticed the struggle Mob was having with his bacon and eggs still on the plate. He understood the pain. He had been a kid too back in the day and his mother had always made him eat his plate empty no matter what. He could still remember eating green peppers with tears flowing down his cheeks as his mother sat next to him, telling her son to finish his plate or he would be grounded for the rest of the day.

"Aa-a, I'm still a bit hungry!" Reigen sighed loudly as he eyed Mob from the corner of his eye, "I wish I had some more bacon and eggs!"

Mob moved his gaze from his plate to Reigen's empty one. He then switched the two plates' places and pointed to Reigen's new plate of food.

"You still have some left", Mob mumbled as he pointed at the plate.

Reigen smirked. This kid was going to become something big. He was smart.

"Ah! Oh my! I have some more left after all!" Reigen faked surprise as he ate the food on the plate.

Mob happily jumped off of his chair and joined his little brother by the TV. Their favorite show's theme song was already playing. Mob was just in time.

Reigen put the dishes to the dishwasher before joining the two kids with cups of pudding in his hand. He told the two that they could eat on the sofa this one time. They had to promise him not to make a mess though. The two nodded eagerly as Reigen helped them open the cups for them.

The three enjoyed their chocolate pudding and watched cartoons, all snuggled up on the sofa. Yes, Reigen had wanted some pudding too.

As the cartoons ended, the brothers moved to sit on the living room floor. They had a box full of toys sitting there already, waiting for them.

Reigen stayed seated watching the morning news. Nothing out of the ordinary, once again. The weather was going to be good all weekend. Reigen was relieved to hear that. Being cooped up inside four walls was hard for him. He couldn't even imagine what it would be like with two little kids.

"What are you boys doing?" Reigen asked the brother as he was finished with the news.

The tower the two had been building fell once again. Apparently they were trying to build a very tall tower. Their skills and technique were lacking though.

"We want to build a tower taller than us", Mob explained as he collected the scattered wooden blocks to start again.

"But it's not working!" Ritsu added, clearly frustrated that they didn't succeed.

"Well, let's see", Reigen sat down with the boys, putting some of the blocks down to form a base which would give the tall tower more balance, "How about we try it this way."

The trio build the tower. It actually ended up being taller than both of the boys and all the way to Reigen's chin when he was standing up. It was a glorious masterpiece.

Mob and Ritsu seemed really pleased with the results as well. They had now moved to build some other, smaller towers out of some other type of building blocks they had.

"What are you up to now?" Reigen asked the boys, taking a picture of the tall tower and sending it to the parents. They replied instantly, telling Reigen how well he was doing and that they missed their little boys already. Reigen simply told the parents to take it easy and relax. He could handle the boys just fine.

"Dimple is attacking the city!" Ritsu suddenly squealed, earning Reigen's attention again.

Mob was letting out something that sounded like roars, very cute roars, and was moving his plush toy at the same time, making it seem like it was some sort of a monster attacking the block city.

"It's destroying everything!" Reigen went right into the play. Good thing he was so childish. He stomped to the nearest block tower and knocked it down, smashing his balled fists to his chest afterwards.

"What are you doing?!" Ritsu whined as he watched what remained of their city.

"I'm not your nanny! I'm a monster!" Reigen laughed, lifting Mob up to his arms. The little boy let out a squeal of surprise and dropped Dimple.

"Brother!" Ritsu screamed, "Let go of him you monster! I knew you were no good!"

"Haha! Make me!" Reigen lifted Mob up to his shoulders and continued smashing the towers, stomping around the living room while doing so.

Mob seemed to quite enjoy himself. He liked being so tall for a change.

But Ritsu wasn't happy. He wanted his big brother back.

"I'll be back for you, brother!" Ritsu told Mob as he ran out of the room and up the stairs. Reigen guessed that he was off to fetch something from the brothers' room to defend himself with.

Reigen had been right. Ritsu returned with a toy sword and shield in hand. He had picked Dimple up too and was now holding him in his hand with the shield.

"We're coming to rescue you!" Ritsu reassured Mob as he went in for the first attack, hitting Reigen's leg with the foam sword.

Reigen should've told the boy something about using violence against others. But seeing that the sword didn't even hurt him, he left that for later. They were currently in the middle of an action-packed playtime. There was no time for scolding.

"Ah, the human got me!" Reigen faked that the soft sword had actually dealt some damage and limped the hit leg.

"Go Dimple!" Ritsu then threw the plush toy right at Reigen's face, "Save your master!"

Reigen held the toy to his face, moving it to make it seem like the thing was actually doing its job.

"Aa! It's scratching my face!" Reigen cried out as he lowered himself and Mob to the ground slowly, not to scare the boy still on his back.

Mob jumped down when he was low enough and ran to Ritsu's arms. The two hugged tight before turning to Reigen.

"Is he dead?" Mob asked, since their nanny was now lying on the ground with Dimple still on his face, unmoving. He was afraid that they had actually killed Reigen. Their parents would be so upset with them.

Ritsu went closer and poked the man with the sword.

Just then, Reigen jumped up, spooking both of the boys.

Too bad that he didn't know not to scare Mob. The boy flinched and his powers were let loose.

Reigen flew all the way to the opposite wall, slammed to it with quite a bit of power and slid down onto the floor. The impact took the air out of the man's lungs and left him gasping for air on the floor.

"A-Are you okay?!" Mob asked as he ran to Reigen's side. He was terrified. He had just used his powers on someone and hurt them. What was he going to do now? Reigen was sure to hate them now.

"I'm fine! No worries!" Reigen reassured the boys who were now both on their knees next to the man, checking his body for any external injuries. But when they found nothing, they had to believe the man's words and calm down.

"But try not to do that again", Reigen laughed as he stood back up, petting Mob's hair to comfort the boy who was near tears by now.

Mob nodded, sniffing loudly.

"Good", Reigen, too, nodded, "Now, who wants to go grocery shopping?"

The brothers got changed from the pajamas they had been wearing all morning. Reigen had let them. It was a weekend. To be fair, Reigen usually was only in his boxers when he had a day off. He didn't do that here. There were children present.

The two were wearing matching outfits. The parents must've bought them on purpose, seeing just how cute the boys looked wearing them. Both of them had blue jeans on, loose enough to allow children's usual playing while they still looked stylish and sharp. The brothers also had sweatshirts. While Mob's was green with a print of a dog and a bone, Ritsu's was blue with a cat and a fish printed on it.

"Don't you two look good!" Reigen smiled as he took out the boys' shoes for them, helping the two put them on.

Mob agreed on wearing the sneakers Reigen had picked out for him, but Ritsu refused. He wanted to wear his new bright yellow boots. Although it wasn't going to rain, Reigen let the boy wear them. There was no use arguing about something so small. It wasn't like Ritsu couldn't walk with the boots on or anything.

"Ready to go?" Reigen asked the brothers, watching them try and button up the jackets he had given them. It was getting colder day by day. Even if it wasn't quite a jacket weather yet, Reigen wasn't going to take the risk of the two getting cold. He could always carry the jackets if the boys got hot with them on.

"Yeah!" Mob and Ritsu smiled as the trio exited the house.

But Mob suddenly stopped. He had forgotten something after all.

"Dimple", Mob mumbled.

"Do you want to take Dimple with you?" Reigen asked the boy who only nodded, running back in to fetch the plush toy. Everything was ready when the last member of the group was finally there with them.

The group walked to the nearest store. Good thing that it was only four blocks away or the kids might not have had the energy to walk all the way there and back. They were sure to run around in the store and tire themselves out and the trio was going to go play in the park later too. The boys were bound to be dead tired by the end of the day.

Reigen picked out a shopping cart with two seats and lifted the boys up to sit on them. He even made sure to buckle them in, as there was an option to do so.

"Alright! What would these boys want to eat for lunch?" Reigen asked them as they entered the store.

"Pancakes!" Ritsu cheered, throwing his hands up in the air.

Mob nodded along, agreeing with his little brother.

"Pancakes", Reigen hummed, "I don't know about pancakes."

"Pancakes!" Ritsu slammed his hands down, looking quite mad now. Next step would be puppy dog eyes if this wouldn't get him what he wanted.

"Alright", Reigen sighed, "How about this. We'll have pancakes for breakfast tomorrow."

"Promise?" Ritsu mumbled.

"Pinky promise", Reigen nodded.

Mob was busy watching all of the colorful fruits and vegetables in the first section they were in. He paid no attention to the two. Of course, pancakes for breakfast sounded good to him too. He couldn't wait.

"How about stew?" Reigen asked as he eyed the carrots right next to them. Stew was something that even a student like him could make. He also had his mother's old recipe memorized. He could do that one.

The boys nodded. Stew was always good and the one their mother always made them was one of their absolute favorite foods of all time.

"Alright! Then, let's get the ingredients!" Reigen clapped his hands together as he began to push the cart onwards to the vegetable and fruit section.

The boys were eager to help, picking up the stuff and dropping it to the cart behind their backs.

They did try and sneak in a couple of snacks though, which Reigen noticed and stopped.

"No, let's not put that in there", Reigen told Ritsu as he took out yet another box of cookies and put it back to the shelf, "How about we buy fruits? They're sweet too."

After a while of arguing about fruits not being as sweet as candy or other sweet snacks, the trio ended up with beautiful red apples, bananas and dark grapes. Reigen promised to make a smoothie later from the bananas and some chocolate ice cream he had spotted in the freezer. It was close to the sweets Ritsu had longed after, but at least it was home-made and had no added sugar.

They bought the ingredients for some stew for lunch and pork cutlets for dinner. Fruit and vegetables to eat as snacks were also added to the cart.

"Ritsu, you can sit there and watch the water. Tell me when it boils", Reigen explained as he placed Ritsu to sit on the kitchen counter, "And don't touch the pot or anything else. It's hot."

The boys had not only wanted to help buy the food, they also wanted to help with the making of it.

Good thing that Reigen had found the boys' aprons from the kitchen cabinets. He got the two dressed and got them something simple to do while he took care of the more dangerous steps like cutting and frying the meat.

Ritsu watched the rice. He let Reigen know when the water begun to boil and as the rice cooked, he watched over it.

Mob washed the vegetables. He even got to help Reigen cut them afterwards. Reigen of course kept a firm hand on Mob's as he guided the boy cutting the carrots and potatoes. Mob kept staring at the broccoli Reigen had bought to eat with the stew and rice. Mob didn't like broccoli for some reason.

The food was done rather quickly. Or then the time went on faster than usual when they did things together and had fun. Anyways, they were done with the food and getting ready to eat now.

"Can you put the knives and forks to the table for me?" Reigen asked Ritsu as the boy had wanted to do something more now that the rice was done.

Ritsu nodded and took the cutlery from Reigen, bringing it to the dining table.

"Mob, you can take care of the plates and glasses", Reigen told Mob as he put him down onto the floor. He decided to trust the older brother with the stuff that could actually break if it fell to the floor.

Mob took the items to the table with shaking hands. He was very unsure if he could make it without breaking anything.

"Good job you two!" Reigen praised the boys as he placed the boiling pot of stew onto the table, followed by the rice and cooked vegetables. He then served each of them a portion, making sure to ask when it was enough. The boys' appetites were slightly different. Mob liked an equal amount of rice and stew while Ritsu preferred more stew than rice. Mob also drank milk while Ritsu had water.

"Is it good?" Reigen asked the boys as they had all taken their first bite. It was good, he had to admit. But he could've let the rice boil just a little bit longer and maybe added another pinch of salt to the stew itself. It was just his opinion though, the boys seemed to enjoy the food very much. Maybe Reigen was too much of a critic. Definitely too critical for it to be any good for a student with money problems. He'd make sure to make the brothers the smoothie he had talked about earlier for dessert, in case they were just trying to be polite and lied about the taste of the food.

"Hm!" Ritsu nodded furiously, mouth still full of food. He had been told not to talk with his mouth full, so he didn't.

Mob too, nodded his head. His eyes said it all.

The lunch was eaten and the brothers settled down for a nap on Reigen's lap as the man read them a story on the living room sofa.

Reigen sat still as the brothers slept, not wanting to disturb their sleep. He skimmed through his phone as he waited for the two to wake up so that they could get to doing something fun and exciting together.

"Good morning, sleepyheads", Reigen smiled as the two began to stir. The nap had taken about an hour in total.

"The park?" Ritsu mumbled as he stretched his hands over his head and yawned.

"You want to go now?"

"Hm", Mob nodded, snuggling to Dimple. He was still sleepy and Reigen actually had to dress him since he wouldn't do it himself.

"Is Dimple coming with us?" Reigen asked Mob as he put a jacket on himself. Reigen made sure to pack them some light snacks as well, in case the boys got hungry while out. He'd also take the boys' first aid pack the parents had told Reigen to carry with him when they went out. It had everything from band aids to juice boxes in it and could help in any emergency situation possible.

Mob nodded.

"Alright", Reigen smiled as he the two brothers took his hands. Ritsu and Mob both had a hand to hold onto. Reigen saw this as a serious accomplishment. Ritsu had refused to let go of his big brother earlier and now he was happily holding Reigen's arm like it was no big deal.

The park the trio was headed to was the brothers' favorite. They told Reigen so themselves.

The first stop was the swings. Mob placed Dimple onto a baby swing and began pushing it to give Dimple some speed. It was comical. The swing was heavy and just a bit too tall for little Mob. He wasn't giving up though, and tried his best to push the thing.

Ritsu sat on a swing, letting Reigen push him some speed.

"Then you bring your legs forward. Yes! Just like that!" Reigen was trying to teach the boy how to work the swing by himself. It was going quite well. The boy was a good listener and a fast learner.

"Look brother! I'm so high!" Ritsu laughed as he swung higher and higher.

Mob looked quite agitated, "Ri-Ritsu! It's dangerous! Slow down."

Mob was afraid that his little brother would fall and hurt himself swinging like that.

"It's fine!" Ritsu told Mob, "You try it too!"

But Mob didn't, he was happy just playing with Dimple on the baby swing.

The sandpit was the trio's next stop. There were some spades and buckets left by others kids for them to use.

Reigen was relieved. He had forgotten to take the brothers' own stuff. Now they wouldn't need to dig the cold sand with their bare hands.

"What are we going to build?" Reigen asked as he sat down onto the edge of the pit while the two kids sat straight onto the sand. Reigen would need to wash those pants later.

"I'm going to dig a huge hole!" Ritsu told Reigen as he picked a shovel and began working. Mob decided to help, placing Dimple to sit inside his sweater's neckline, securing the plush there where it could watch over him.

Reigen helped the two by shoveling the sand dug up a bit further from them so that they had more space to dig. He decided to build a small sand castle with the sand he received. It ended up crooked and rather funny-looking but Reigen was proud of it all the same. It was the best castle he had built in years. It was actually the only castle he had built in years.

When Mob crouched down to take another shovel-full of sand, Dimple broke free and dropped down to the bottom of the pit.

Ritsu of course didn't notice or react soon enough and shoveled some of the sand right on top of the toy, dirtying it.

"Dimple!" Mob cried out as he tried to reach the toy. His hands were just a little too short and he couldn't reach. Reigen had to stick his hand to the hole and lift the poor thing up.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see Dimple!" Ritsu told Mob with tears in his eyes, coming closer to sit right next to his big brother.

"Dimple", Mob mumbled as he cradled the toy, trying his best to wipe away the dirt from the green fabric. But it wouldn't come off, the dirt stayed there.

"I'm sorry!" Ritsu went in to hug his brother but Mob rejected it, moving away from his brother.

Mob was really upset. Not that much with Ritsu but with himself for letting his friend fall. He should've protected Dimple.

Ritsu could see that his brother was fighting back tears. He knew that they would be in a lot of trouble if Mob got any more upset than this. Ritsu stared at Reigen, trying to tell him to stop his brother. Anything would be fine, as long as Mob didn't get sad.

Before anything bad could happen though, Reigen hugged Mob tightly, comforting him by petting the boy's head and whispering sweet words to his ear.

"It's alright", Reigen told Mob, "Dimple just wanted to play with you two. It's not your fault."

"B-But he's all dirty", Mob sniffed, showing Reigen the toy and the state it was in.

"Do you think that Dimple likes baths? He could have one with you two when we get back home", Reigen asked Mob. His voice was quiet and calm. He hoped that the boy would mimic him and calm down as well.

And Mob did, he nodded slowly, standing up. He was ready to leave.

The two others agreed. The mood was ruined after all.

When the three got back home, Reigen went right into the bathroom and got the water running.

Mob came to Reigen's side, watching the tub fill with water. He had Dimple in his shaking arms. The plush looked rather sad with all the dirt on its face.

Dimple was very important to Mob. It was the last toy he had gotten from his grandmother before she had passed away. The old woman's shaking hands and poor eyesight managed to only make something as poor as Dimple. It was supposed to be a cat. The woman had apologized to Mob as she had presented the boy the plush on his birthday. But Mob didn't care, he had loved the toy from day one. He had made sure to give his granny a big hug and thank her. Dimple hasn't left the boy's side since. The parents have even joked that Dimple is Mob's guardian angel.

"Do you want bubbles?" Reigen asked the two as he eyed the bottles on the tub's edge. Just how many bottles did one family need?

Ritsu nodded. Mob did as well.

"Does Dimple want bubbles in his bath as well?"

Mob moved the toy as if it had nodded.

"Alright. Coming right up", Reigen smiled. He made a bath for Dimple in the sink.

Reigen washed the two boys from all the dirt from the park and while the two played in the tub, he washed Dimple clean. Mob kept glancing at him every other minute, making sure that his friend was alright.

Mob wouldn't be able to sleep with his toy tonight. Dimple was soaking wet and the family didn't have a drier in the house. Reigen had actually tried to dry Dimple off with a hairdryer but it hadn't worked that well. He then carefully hung the plush to dry in the bathroom so that Mob could come and see how it was doing. It'd need to dry off the old fashion way.

Mob had panicked a bit at first, but decided to be brave and sleep on his own this night. Dimple needed to take his time.

Reigen and Ritsu had both praised Mob for his bravery and promised that Dimple would be ready when Mob woke up tomorrow.

Reigen had put on a movie for the two boys to watch as he made dinner.

It was a Disney movie, Hercules. A tale of a young man moving from zero to hero and come to terms with his unusual powers as well as find love.

Mob watched the movie intently. It spoke to him in many levels. The main character was just like him.

"Do you think I could become a hero?" Mob asked Reigen as the three were sitting down eating the pork cutlets Reigen had made them. There was also rice, salad and veggies on the plates.

"What is this all about?" Reigen huffed, "Of course you can! You are one already!"

"Really?" Mob asked, sparkles in his eyes, "I'm a hero?"

"Are you a good person, Mob?"

Mob thought for a minute before nodding furiously.

"Then you are! That's all you need. Being a good person!"

"W-What about my powers?"

"They're not something that makes you less of a human than anyone else. It's just like people who are good at running or people who are good at talking. You just can't put one on top of another. They're all equal", Reigen explained Mob. Ritsu listened as well.

"Really?"

"You think I'm a liar?"

Mob had to agree with their new nanny. So he was a hero. He could use his powers for good and to make people happy.

He began his hero career by helping Reigen wash the dishes. Ritsu joined him.

Reigen washed the dishes. He had decided to do it by hand this time so that the boys could help. Mob would dry the dishes and then give them to Ritsu. Ritsu would put them back to where they belonged.

The trio then moved to the living room to just lounge. They were all tired from the action-packed day.

Ritsu and Mob lied on the floor drawing with some crayons while Reigen called the parents to give them an update on their situation.

Too bad that the weather was turning bad. Dark thunder clouds were gathering in the distance. The three, unaware. The weather forecast had promised good weather for the whole weekend. They had said nothing about sudden thunderstorms.

And by the time it was time to go to bed, it was already raining very hard. The rain pelting onto the roof tiles made an awful racket, scaring the two boys. They refused to go to sleep even after three stories by Reigen.

"Alright. How does a sleepover sound?" Reigen finally sighed as he was rocking the two boys in his arms, walking around the boys' bedroom.

"A sleepover?" Ritsu sniffed and jolted as a thunder roared once again. It had just began to thunder and the boys were absolutely terrified of it.

"Yeah!" Reigen took the boys to the living room, "Well make a fortress to protect us and sleep there!"

Reigen then put the two boys down in favor of moving the dining table's chairs to the living room. They would be the supporting pillars of their fortress.

"Help me build us a soft nest", Reigen explained as he took out the sofa's pillows and threw them onto the floor.

Mob and Ritsu nodded, going to their room to fetch their pillows and blankets. They'd go back and fetch their mattresses too. Reigen took out his as well and the trio piled them to the middle of the living room floor.

Mob and Ritsu both jumped onto the pillow and mattress pile which Reigen had covered with a couple of blankets. It really looked like a nest.

"Watch your heads boys!" Reigen laughed as he threw a blanket on top of the nest. It would be held up by the chairs and the sofa. The boys had taken out some books to act as weights, holding the edges down.

"A roof!" Ritsu clapped his hands, the previous terror forgotten.

"A roof!" Mob echoed.

"Yes!" Reigen nodded, joining the two in the nest. He had a nightlight with him to bring light to the space. It projected stars onto the roof making it almost seem like they were sleeping under the starry sky.

Reigen made them cups of warm milk with honey. He hoped that the drink would calm them down enough so that they would fall asleep.

And they did, soon after they had finished their cups of milk the two boys nodded off. Reigen hadn't even had to read them another bedtime story.

Reigen fell asleep soon after.

The thunderstorm still raged on, but the three of them were safe now. Nothing could get them now.

"Mmm", Reigen yawned as he slowly woke up. He was confused to see stars above his head and it took him a minute to remember the situation.

Damn, he had forgotten to set an alarm. He flicked his phone open to see the time. He was afraid that it would be midday and that they had slept in. It was just ten o'clock. They had slept longer than intended, but not too long. Reigen sighed in relief. When Reigen usually forgot to set the alarm he woke up somewhere in the evening, having slept half of the day away.

The two boys were snuggled to his side, still sleeping. They looked absolutely adorable.

Reigen snapped a picture with his phone and sent it to the parents, telling them that they survived the thunder storm last night.

Mob and Ritsu woke up slowly. They yawn and stretch before snuggling back to Reigen and falling asleep once more. They did this a couple of times before they finally opened their eyes. Reigen stayed still the whole time, not leaving the nest.

"Good morning", Reigen smiled as he watched the boys rub the remains of sleep from their eyes.

"Morning", Mob yawned.

The trio went to the bathroom to wash themselves and get ready for the day.

While Mob and Ritsu washed their teeth, Reigen tried his best to tame the brothers' wild bedheads. He had little to no success. Mob's mane was somewhat back to normal by the end of it but Ritsu's looked just as wild as it always did.

Mob ran to check on Dimple. He is relieved to see that his friend is alright. Dimple is clean and dry as Reigen hands it back to Mob's awaiting arms.

"Dimple", Mob mumbled as he hugged his toy, welcoming it back.

"He watched over the house for us", Reigen explained.

Mob only nodded. Reigen had kept his promise. Dimple was alright.

They had pancakes for breakfast just as Reigen had promised yesterday at the mall.

The two brothers sat on the counter while Reigen flipped the pancakes. They would clap their hands after an especially good throw and catch.

Reigen was really good. None of the batter ended up on the kitchen ceiling and they were left with a plate full of beautiful golden-brown pancakes.

Reigen bowed after his performance while the two boys clapped their hands in awe.

"Do you want jam with your pancakes?" Reigen asked as they sat down by the table. Reigen had had to take three of the chairs holding their fortress together for them to sit on.

The two nodded. Their mother had just made some apple jam and it was delicious.

Reigen poured each of them a glass of milk before sitting down himself.

"Bon appétit!" Reigen clapped his hands together before digging to his portion. He really should make pancakes more often. These were delicious and cheap as well.

Mob and Ritsu ate themselves full and decided to lie down afterwards.

Reigen washed the dishes and cleaned up their fortress much to the brothers' displeasure.

The three then watched TV until the doorbell rang, signaling that the parents had returned.

Mob and Ritsu ran to the door, opening it to the smiling faces of their parents.

"Hello boys!" their mother hugged them and gave them two big kisses, "Did you have fun?"

"Yes!" both boys smiled as they gave their mother kisses too.

The father nodded to Reigen as the young man came to the doorway too, to meet the parents.

"Reigen saved Dimple!" Mob explained as he showed the parents his precious plush toy.

"Well that's great to hear!" the parents told Mob as they moved into the house and to the living room, sitting down onto the sofa. They were tired from their long train trip back.

"What did Dimple got into now?" the father asked Mob.

"He decided to go explore and fell to a sandpit", Reigen explained as Mob said nothing. The boy was too focused on trying to climb onto his mother's lap.

The father nodded, pleased with how well the young man had handled what must've been a difficult situation. Guess that today's millennials could do something right after all. The father had thought that they were all useless little kids just playing around.

The group chatted for a while longer before Reigen stood up.

"I guess I better get going", Reigen bowed, "I've already packed my stuff."

"Really? You should stay for lunch", the mother told him.

"I couldn't possibly", Reigen smiled, "You're too kind."

"Is it school?" the father asked.

"Yes. I still haven't finished some things for tomorrow", Reigen admitted. He had a deadline tomorrow too.

"Oh my! You should've said something earlier!" the mother panicked, "You better get back home right away and get to writing!"

"Yes mam", Reigen smiled as the woman pushed him to the door while the father fetched Reigen's stuff from his room.

Mob and Ritsu watched the adults run around. They didn't understand what 'a deadline' or 'homework' were but they could guess that they were something important. Then they saw that Reigen was by the door, about to leave. That got them to move. Their nanny couldn't leave!

"Reigen!" Mob hugged Reigen's leg as did Ritsu, crabbing the other leg.

"What is it you two?" Reigen crouched down to hug the boys who dived to his arms.

"Can you come again?" Ritsu asked.

"We can go play in the park!" Mob added.

"Of course!" Reigen smiled after the parents had nodded, giving him the permission. He left them his personal phone number and told the parents to let the boys call him whenever they wanted to. He promised to pick up even when in class. He would prefer the boys over any lecture any day.

"See you soon", Mob told Reigen. Ritsu nodding beside his big brother, agreeing.

"Yes, be good boys and behave until then", Reigen smiled as he began walking back home, "I'll see you again soon!"

"Bye bye big brother Reigen!" Mob and Ritsu waved by the door. Even Dimple waved, with some help from Mob.

That earned a big smile and a blush from Reigen. He had never had little brothers before. Now he had and he was absolutely loving it already.


End file.
